Joe Rossi:
Login to view embedded media
Brian Lindgren:
Login to view embedded media
Aidan Chiles:
Login to view embedded media

Michigan State is coming off of a 38-7 loss to Ohio State. Despite the blowout loss, there were some positives to take away from the game.

I give out a “game ball” from the Ohio State game, list players to watch ahead of MSU's matchup with Oregon on Friday night and highlight a senior.

More here:

QUICK STRIKES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD ...

• Michigan State continues a stretch of three straight non-conference games, hosting Miami (Tuesday) and Kent State (Sunday) at Ralph Young Field.

• This week's games are two of MSU's final three non-conference games remaining on the schedule. The Spartans will play at Central Michigan on Oct. 13 to wrap the non-league slate.

• MIami is 5-5 on the season after a non-league loss at Michigan on Sunday. The Red Hawks are 2-1 in MAC play, including a 3-0 shutout of Ball State last Friday. Miami is 1-3 against Big Ten teams with a win over Indiana and losses to Iowa, Rutgers, and Michigan. Head coach Iñako Puzo is in his 14th year at the helm, and his squad is led in scoring by Claudia Negrete Garcia, who has a 7-0-14 scoring line. Keeper Nicky Sjouken owns a 1.61 GAA and .619 save percentage.

• Kent State has a Friday game at home against Appalachian State before coming to East Lansing for Sunday's contest. Heather Hefner is in her first season as the head coach of the Flashes, and her squad owns a 2-7 mark on the year - but is a perfect 2-0 in MAC play entering the week. Eva Usoz is the team's top scorer (5-3-13), and the Golden Flashes have played two keepers over the course of the season. Lieve Janse owns a 2.55 GA, .754 save percentage, and owns both Kent State wins in the cage. Allison Wood has started three of Kent State's contests and has posted a 2.66 GAA and .571 save percentage.

• Head coach Helen Knull is an alumna and former assistant coach at Kent State. She was a a four-year starter, two-year captain and a two-time All-American at Kent State, leading the Golden Flashes to the NCAA Tournament for four straight years (1999-2002). In 2002, Knull was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. She was inducted into the Kent State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. As an assistant coach for two years and as an associate head coach in her final season (2005), Knull helped guide the Golden Flashes to two Mid-American Conference championships (2003, 2005) and cultivating the development of two Freshmen of the Year and one MAC Player of the Year.

• MSU is coming off a dramatic double-overtime victory on the road at Ball State on Sunday. The Cardinals scored midway through the first quarter and were able to withstand a consistent MSU attack, as the Green & White had 24 shot attempts to BSU's 4 and had 17 corners to Ball State's one. Freshman Caro Schafer scored her first collegiate goal at 57:10 to send the game to overtime, and classmate Lilian Knorr had the game-winner in the second overtime period.

• MSU earned its first overtime win this season in three tries - the Spartans fell at Cal (2-1) and at home against Ohio (3-2 in 2 OT). It was MSU's first overtime win since a 1-0 victory over Indiana late in the 2022 season.

• The Spartans have surpassed their win total from a year ago (4) and scored 21 goals through nine games in 2024. The 2023 offensively-challenged Spartans scored 17 goals in 16 games combined.

• Caro Schafer scored her first collegiate goal at Ball State, finding the back of the cage at 57:10 of the fourth quarter to send the game into OT.

• Lilian Knorr's Sunday game-winner was her second score of the season. She now has 2-2-6 on the year.

• Ellie Rutherford picked up her fourth assist of the season at Ball State to push her season total to eight points.

• Senior Jillian Bonczewski had a team-high nine shots at Ball State and tied for the game lead of three shots on goal with Maddie Lawler, Ellie Rutherford, and Carmen Pucheta.

• Ashley Herbert made her Spartan debut in goal for MSU against Michigan last Monday, and then earned her first start on Sunday at Ball State. She made one save in the victory.

• MSU returns to Big Ten play next week when it hosts Maryland (Friday) at Ralph Young Field. It completes the weekend slate on the road at Central Michigan on Sunday.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

The game will kickoff at 8 p.m.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - After two games away from home, Michigan State men's soccer returns home to take on Northwestern in Big Ten action on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

MSU holds a 3-4-2 overall and 2-1-0 mark in league play after a 1-0 win at No. 15 UCLA. Northwestern comes to town with a 5-4-0 overall record and a n 0-3-0 mark in league play.

Jack Kizer and Chris Munroe will be on the call for the Big Ten Network.

FINDING HIS GROOVE
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout leads the team in scoring with four goals and one assist for nine points. He has now scored in three-straight games. Stout is also first on the team in shots on goal with nine just ahead of senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan with eight. Sophomore forward Richie Ludwig, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan and freshman forward Mohamed Saad have also found the back of the net this season.

LOOKING AT THE WILDCATS
Northwestern comes to town with a 5-4-0 overall record and an 0-3-0 mark in Big Ten play. In league contests, the Wildcats have losses to Washington, UCLA and No. 19 Maryland.

Italio Addimandi and Collin McCamy lead the team in scoring with four points each. Both have one goal and two assists. Nine different Wildcats have scored this season. Rafael Ponce de León has played every minute in goal for Northwestern this season. He has allowed only eight goals in nine games for a 0.89 GAA. Five of his eight goals allowed have come in league contests.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State holds a 34-10-5 overall record against the Wildcats. The Spartans are 17-3-2 in East Lansing, while holding a 11-7-3 mark on the road. On neutral territory, MSU leads 6-0. Northwestern has won three of the last five games between the two squads. The last time the Spartans played the Wildcats at home was in 2022 when Northwestern came out on top 2-1.

Last year in Evanston, the No. 20 Spartans came away with a 2-1 win against No. 21 Northwestern on Oct. 20. MSU used a pair of first-half goals from Sean Kerrigan and Richie Ludwig to seal the win.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State captured it first road win of the season with a 1-0 win against No. 15 UCLA on Sept. 27. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout's goal in the second minute held up. It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

AROUND THE B1G
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for fourth in the Big Ten in goals scored with four. Wisconsin's Dean Boltz is first with eight.

Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly is third in the Big Ten in saves with 28. In conference games, Kelly has a 0.67 GAA, allowing only two goals in three games.

BIG TEN OPENER
MSU opened Big Ten action against new Big Ten member Washington on Sept. 13. The Spartans are 7-1-2 in their last 10 Big Ten openers. Last season, the Spartans tied Rutgers on the road 1-1 in the league opener. In 2022, MSU tied No. 16 Indiana to open league play. In 2021, MSU tied Wisconsin 1-1 in Madison.

Prior to the last three seasons, Michigan State had begun B1G action against RU for five-straight seasons, going 4-1-0 during that span.

UP NEXT
After taking on Northwestern at home, MSU travels to No. 19 Maryland on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo will be joined by senior guard Jaden Akins and sophomore forward Xavier Booker in Rosemont, IL on Thursday (Oct. 3) for B1G MBB Media Days.

Coach Izzo will participate in a panel discussion at 10:20 am ET on BTN.



Players and coaches will appear on BTN throughout the rest of the day from Noon to 5 pm ET.

Head coach Robyn Fralick will be joined by graduate guard Julia Ayrault and junior guard Theryn Hallock tomorrow in Rosemont, IL. for B1G WBB Media Days tomorrow (Wednesday, 10/2).

Fralick will speak in a panel at 11 am ET on BTN.



From Noon to 5 pm the players and coaches will speak with BTN staff following the morning sessions.

It's October 1. Which means that the majority of NIL contracts through MSU's new official NIL Collective (and corporate sponsor) Spartan Nation NIL had payments due last night at midnight. (Most NIL contracts are set up for quarterly payments).

My sources are telling me that the payments were made without issue and we won't be seeing a repeat of the situation last year. You'll remember one year ago the players were receiving communication from the collective ON THE WAY TO THE IOWA GAME and all hell was breaking loose.

This is an important date as well because the next NIL contractual payments will be due on or before 12/31, which means MSU should be drama-free on this topic for a few months.

It should be noted that MSU's other NIL Collective - This is Sparta! - has not had any issues like this in its three-year history.

Gonzaga to join Pac-12 in 2026 as conference’s remake continues​

Gonzaga will join the Pac-12 in 2026, giving the conference one of the nation’s premier basketball programs as it continues its rebuild.

Gonzaga, as a non-football school, won’t be a full Pac-12 member, meaning the conference still has seven full members. But for the Pac-12, it’s an addition of a men’s basketball program that reached the national championship game in 2017 and 2021 and has made 25 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Gonzaga’s women’s basketball program also has 15 tournament appearances since 2007 and made the Sweet 16 in 2024.

The Pac-12, which was down to Oregon State and Washington State after losing 10 schools to the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, added Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State last month. All are also set to join in 2026. After an attempt to add schools from the American Athletic Conference fell short, the Pac-12 then added Utah State as the seventh full member.

Its attempt to add UNLV fell short, as the six remaining full Mountain West members, along with football-only member Hawaii, opted to stay together and sign a binding agreement. The Mountain West is expected to add UTEP from Conference USA, a person briefed on the discussions said Tuesday.

"Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hit king and the Cincinnati Reds icon whose signature gritty hustle couldn’t outpace the gambling transgressions and obfuscation that kept him out of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has died, according to a spokesperson for the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner in Nevada. He was 83.


Rose was one of baseball’s greats – a winning-obsessed sparkplug who topped MLB’s all-time hit list with 4,256 over a 24-season career. He stood out for his all-in effort, sliding head-first and running even when a pitcher walked him – a style that earned him the nickname, first derisively, then admiringly, “Charlie Hustle.”



He played for three World Series champion teams – the Reds’ stacked “Big Red Machine” roster in 1975 and 1976, and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980 – was voted to the National League’s All-Star team 17 times, and won both the National League Rookie of the Year award (1963) and the Most Valuable Player award (1973)."





PERSONAL TAKE: He gambled on baseball as a Manager and not as a player, so I think he should be in the Hall of Fame, perhaps with an asterisk or explanation by his name. No one played the game with more enthusiasm or hustle than Charlie Hustle, aka PETE ROSE.